Espada watch

State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., D-Bronx, the ethically challenged majority leader of the competence-challenged upper chamber in Albany, has done it again.

Earlier this summer, Espada hired his son, Pedro G. Espada, as a highly paid staffer, only to watch him resign days later as the state attorney general explored nepotism charges.

Last month, Espada named one Onix A. Sosa, 41, as his deputy chief of staff, at a salary of $60,000. On Monday, a reporter for The New York Times asked Espada why he hired the manager of low-income apartment buildings in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx that had attracted some 7,400 code violations, more than 1,000 of them deemed hazardous; who had been targeted by more than 100 lawsuits brought by tenants or the city; whose real estate broker's license was revoked in 2004 for "gross untrustworthiness"; and whose nonprofit group, the Upper Manhattan Council Assisting Neighbors, was raided in March, leading to a corruption investigation.

Espada said, in effect, he was shocked, just shocked. He called in Sosa to hear his side of things, then promptly fired him. "I was shocked and, quite frankly, blindsided by this revelation," said Espada, who himself remains under state and local investigation.

Which is more troubling: that Espada really didn't know Sosa's record? That he claims he didn't know? Or that he knew and hired him anyway?

Here's what's most troubling: that Espada continues to be the majority leader of the New York State Senate.